Good samaritans rescue area couple from sound sleep
BOSTON – A local couple was saved from sleeping last night during a false alarm at a waterfront hotel, thanks to the efforts of several fellow guests. “It was one-thirty in the morning when it happened,” said David Schrag, 41. “There was an announcement on the P.A. system that an alarm had been triggered somewhere in the hotel. It said that if our floor had to be evacuated, there would be further instructions given after the recorded message. It was pretty clear about that. They repeated it three times.” Schrag and his wife, Rhoda Bernard, were prepared to wait peacefully for further instructions when at least two heroically inclined but apparently brain-dead women took it upon themselves to start banging on doors urging everyone to get out. “If it hadn’t been for those [women], we might have fallen back asleep and missed the rest of the false alarm,” said Bernard. “I’m so thankful that their knocking and shouting raised our adrenaline levels to a point where sleep was not going to happen for at least an hour.” Schrag and Bernard were further assisted in their efforts to stay awake approximately fifteen minutes later, when a piercing announcement from the public address system informed guests that the alarm had been isolated and that everyone in the building should resume their “normal activities.”
Comments
Comment from david
Time March 29, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Yes, Mary. I am seriously complaining. I mean I’m trying to be light-hearted about it because I found it merely annoying, not dangerous. But if you want to take things seriously, I would argue that what these women did actually caused more harm than good. The hotel obviously had a carefully worked-out safety plan. By not following instructions, these woman could have caused chaos, and it is chaos that leads to death. I told my story later in the day to a firefighter who said that the best thing you can do when an alarm goes off in a modern downtown hotel is to stay in your room unless someone specifically tells you to leave. There are sprinkler systems to protect you from a fire, but there are no systems in place to prevent you from being trampled or pushed down the stairs during a mad dash for the exits. No systems, that is, other than the announcements that these women chose to ignore. I approve whole-heartedly of altruism, but not when practiced willy-nilly.
Comment from Mary
Time March 29, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Is this guy seriously complaining that some ladies cared enough to knock on his door when they thought there was a fire??? The main reason people DIE in FIRES is because they don’t take alarms seriously. Yes, in his case, it turned out to be a false alarm, thankfully, but the alternative was that he fall back asleep and possibly miss an evacuation order.